LLA: The Final Outcome
by Bladequeen2000
Summary: When Luna sends a distress signal to Tatum, the elements must team up once again and travel to Reptilia to help put an end to Terehawken's tyranny. But, could this prove to be too much for them? R&R! I had special permission to use certain characters. DISCONTINUED!
1. Chapter 1

**(That's right! This is the final story of the LLA saga! I hope you guys enjoy this one! I'd like to give a special thanks to dragon482 and NewLegend for letting me use their characters! R&R! No flames please! Enjoy!)**

**Chapter One **- Distress Call

The floor was cold under Luna's feet as she sat. Her ankle was shackled to the wall in means to prevent her from escaping her cell. Letting a long sigh, she hugged herself to keep herself warm but she still shivered under the cold.

They didn't see it coming. One moment they were at Terehawken's citadel, but then everything went black after a bunch of creatures ambushed them. She woke up with the others in their own individual cells. They were all captured and were at Terehawken's mercy. One by one, she saw her friends be dragged out of their cells and never seen again after that. First seeing her best friend Kayla being dragged away, then her beloved Zombie Snake, and then Blue Eyes. She was next, and she knew it.

_'What could he be doing to them?' _Luna thought, _'Am I going to meet the same fate?'_

Suddenly, her cells doors open and a guard goes in and drags her out forcefully by her arm.

"Come on, don't keep our master waiting..." Luna glares at him as she is guided to Terehawken's chambers.

The guard forces her down onto a chair in the middle of the room and binds her wrists to it. Luna stuggled but her efforts were useless against the strong material. She hears a faint chuckle and turns to the large figure who towered over on in his throne. _'Terehawken...'_ she thought quietly in her head. The dragon stood up and began to walk slowly toward her, the room shaking with each step from his colossal size. Luna finds herself looking up to the face of their enemy and captor. Anger filled her eyes as she glared, but he glares back to mock her.

"Well, well, well.....seems you're the only one left...." His deep tone of voice made her shudder in fear.

"What have you done to my friends!?" Luna demanded.

Terehwken grinned, showing his long rows of sharp teeth. "Don't worry, you'll know know soon enough." He rests a claw on her forehead. Luna looked at him in fear.

"Wha-wha...what are you doing?" she stammered. Suddenly, she felt her mind was being assaulted by a foreign force. She screamed in pain and fought back the force that tried to dominate her mind. It was a battle of will, and Luna wasn't going to give into the dragon's hands without a fight. Terehawken had a look of frustration at her resistance. He added more strength to his power to take over her mind. Another loud scream echoed the halls as Luna felt another pain going through her head. Tears start stinging her eyes as she kept resisting with all her might. Terehawken huffed and pulls back his claw, leaving the girl with a massive headache.

"Your mind is strong, you've managed to repel my power," he smirked, "Well done. Although I wouldn't say so for your friends."

Luna raised her head, "You bastard..."

"They're all under my control, and you WILL join them."

"Never!"

Terehawken smirked wider. "We'll see about that. I will find a way to make you join in my conquest to destroy this planet."

The guard came back and unbinded her from the chair, she didn't give much of a fight since she was exhausted from keeping her mind safe. Terehawken watched as she was dragged back into the dungeons and turned his gaze to the three figures that stood by his throne, each having a blank and cold stare.

The guard practically threw her back into the cell and locked the doors. Luna's back slammed against the wall and slumped to the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks.

_'I have to get help...I just have to before....'_Luna stopped the thought midsentence. _'And I think I know who to call...'_

---

Tatum leaned back into a tree as she gazed upon the landscape of the Dragon Worlds before her. A small smile played about her lips as she could see Sydney in conversation with other dragons. Cainnan was nearby sketching the plantlife around him. He had been doing so the past few weeks and sending his sketches to his father in the desert. His father, being a gifted Apothecary, could tell him whether or not the plant could be used for medicinal purposes.

The other former elements were no longer living in the Dragon Worlds. Sky was now leader of his flock in the canyons and was doing surprisingly well last Tatum had heard of him. It appeared he was only serious and paid attention to things better when he wanted to, which only seemed to be when he was busy being leader. Firenha was leading her own tribe of volcans made up of exiled and outcasted volcans who were close to death and had nowhere to turn. She seemed to be doing well also, but Tatum had noticed that the other volcans were taking extra care of Firenha and doting on her every whim, which wasn't very typical of volcans unless...

Well, Tatum was sure that if Firenha was with-child, she would've said something to her. It must of obviously been because she rescued them from certain death. Emma was doing alright too. She was currently watching over her young nephew, Edward, who was destined to take his father's place as the leader of his herd. Although her condition remained quite weak, she still kept strong for Edward until he'd be old enough to take his father's place.

Yes, everything seemed quite stable and pleasant on this world. That was, until Tatum sensed something was wrong. She could sense a distress call coming from someone familiar, but who-

_Luna? Is that you? _She asked.

A faint voice responds weakly in her head.

_'Yes...Tatum, listen to me..I don't have much time until I lose what's left of my energy. We've been captured back at Reptilia...the others....something terrible has happened to them and I'm afraid I'm going to be next. You and others have to come to Terehawken's citadel, we need all the help we can get...' _

Tatum took a moment to register everything that had been said before replying.

_Don't worry. We're going to help you. I just need to know where Reptilia and Terehawken's Citadel are. _

_'Only a several hundred miles from where you are, Terehawken's citadel is in the Eastern Regions of the planet.'_

_Very well. We'll get there as fast as we can! Just hold on! _

'_Please...hurry..._' Her call disconnected. Tatum moved away from the tree, explaining to Cainnan that there was something urgent that she had to do. She raised her staff and disappeared in a flash of white light. Some minutes later, she returned, holding a small canvas sack filled with heavy objects. She called Sydney over to where she and Cainnan were.

"What's up Tatum?" Sydney asked once she had arrived. Tatum sat down, placing the sack in front of her, looking quite serious.

"I have just received a distress call from Luna at Reptilia. Apparently, she and the others are in terrible danger and need our help. They don't have much time, so I went to the Hall of the Elders to ask for their assistance. They responded by giving me these..." Tatum replied, taking out one of the items in the sack. It was a golden arm cuff with a deep amber stone embedded in it. Some strange markings, similar to the old element markings, were etched around the stone.

"What are they?" Sydney asked, staring at the cuff. It felt as if it eminated power.

"The Elders will allow you temporary use of your old powers as elements through these accessories. They each hold the power of the elements as you once did." Tatum replied, handing the first one to Cainnan. He held it and looked it over as if seeing if it had some horrible trap inside of it. She then took out the next one, a small golden choker built to fit a dragon with a deep blue stone embedded in it.

She carefully placed it around Sydney's neck, who looked apprehensive at first, but then relaxed after she felt the familiar sensation of energy flowing like the very blood in her body throughout her being. Cainnan did the same, attaching the cuff to his arm, feeling the energy crawl throughout his body. Tatum then closed the sack and stood up.

"We need to gather the others. We're going to need all the help we can get." She stated. Sydney nodded as Cainnan stood with Tatum.

"We should get Sky first. I'll bet he'll be thrilled to get his wind abilities back!" She exclaimed. Tatum smiled a bit before raising her staff and teleporting them to the canyons. When they arrived, Tatum made a beeline straight for the center of the canyons. There, they saw a circle of boulders surrounding a dead tree. Sky was perched on the tree, talking to an older eagle.

Then the older eagle flew off and Sky turned to see Tatum and the other two standing there. He smiled and flew down to greet them.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here?" He asked. Tatum set the sack down in front of her and explained the situation to him. Sky became serious at this news.

"What can we do? We don't have our powers anymore." He stated, looking a bit glum at that. Tatum then opened the sack and pulled out something that looked like a thin, golden crown with a silver stone embedded in the front.

"This will grant you your wind abilities for a time." She explained and Sky grinned.

"Sweet!" He exclaimed as Tatum placed the crown overtop and around his helmet. Once done, Sky felt the energy move through his body like the air through his lungs.

"So when do we leave?" He asked as Tatum closed the sack and lifted it.

"When we get Firenha, then we'll depart for Reptilia." Tatum replied. Sky smirked at that.

"This outta be interesting." He remarked as Tatum lifted her staff and teleported them to Firenha's volcano.

---

Luna layed on the mat, concerned for the well-being of her friends. She prayed,

_'Please....hurry...'_

---

When they arrived at the volcano, Tatum held up a hand to them to stop them from moving forward.

"Volcans prefer the least amount of visitors as possible. I won't be long." She explained. With that, she turned and entered the volcano. Sky raised an eyebrow at this.

"I thought Firenha was trying to change the way things usually were with volcans?" He mused.

"It's not that simple. Firenha's already breaking several taboos with taking in exiled volcans and making them members of her tribe. Customs like volcan customs take a lot of time to change. She needs the favor of her tribe members in order to move forward with a change." Sydney explained. Sky nodded in acknowledgement and a few minutes later, Firenha emerged from the volcano's entrance with Tatum by her side. Firenha appeared to be carrying some extra weight and she wore a golden necklace with a fiery red stone embedded in an amulet.

Sydney seemed to notice this, but Sky appeared oblivious to it and grinned.

"Hey, Firenha. It's kind of funny seeing you wear more stuff than just your flame bikini and being less exposed than usual." He remarked. Firenha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Aren't leaders suppose to be, I don't know_, mature_? or do eagles not care whether childishness can kill them?" She retorted. Sky just smirked at that.

"I'm mature when I wanna be, Firry." He replied, calling her by an old nickname he use to use when they were younger. Firenha's flames rose and gained temp as she scowled at him.

"I told you never to call me that featherbrain!" She growled. Tatum cut them off before they could get further.

"Enough you two! We have more pressing matters at hand." She ordered and Firenha just glared at Sky who looked a bit smug. Firenha then looked up at Tatum.

"So where to now?" She asked.

"We leave for Reptilia." Tatum replied.

"But what about Emma? Isn't she coming too?" Sydney asked. Tatum shook her head.

"Emma's life-span was shortened when she gave Luna the tip of her horn. She is too weak to fight anymore." She replied, raising her staff. The others looked a bit saddened at the news, but couldn't dwell on it as they were then teleported to Reptilia in a flash of white light.

---

They appeared in the Eastern Regions of Reptilia in a valley that extended for many miles. They looked around at the view. It was definitely much different than the Dragon Worlds. Tatum glanced at them, her usual serious "business" face on.

"According to Luna, Terehawken's Citadel is located somewhere in this region," She explained, "Keep close and try not to get lost."

They all nodded as she slammed her staff into the ground, sending a beam of light into the sky that formed into a ball, which then formed an arrow, pointing in the direction they needed to go. Tatum then picked up a small stone and called the arrow down to merge with the stone. The result acted as a compass, leading them to Terehawken's Citadel. She then moved forward in the direction the compass pointed in, doing their best not to draw any attention to themselves.

After walking for a few miles, a figure starts to emerge from the horizon, walking toward them.

A figure that resembles much like Kayla. Tatum noticed the figure and stopped, trying to see who this figure was. Sydney squinted her vision and Sky concentrated his focus on this stranger. Firenha and Cainnan did their best to try to make out whoever it was as well as the figure drew closer to them. Kayla walked toward them with a blank stare.

Sydney grinned at the sight of her friend, but as she went to greet her, Tatum stopped her with her staff and shook her head.

"Kayla is not herself," She explained, "I can't reach her. Terehawken did his work well."

Sky seemed a bit apprehensive. "Are you saying that Terehawken is controlling them all?"

Tatum winced a bit as she tried to get through the barriers that Terehawken set up in Kayla's mind so nothing could disrupt the mind control spell. "It's very possible." She replied, unable to get past the barriers.

Sydney looked back at Kayla, who continued to approach them. "So what do we do? We can't just fight our friends!" She cried.

"We may have to, unless we can find some way to get past the barriers on Kayla's mind." Tatum stated.

Kayla growled at her targets, lunging at them and kicking Sydney of out the way to slash at Tatum. Tatum lept out of the way and quickly transformed her staff into a sword. She took off her robe and called out to the others as they spread out, "Use evasive and defensive manuevers only! We must get through to her!"

_Luna! Can you still hear me? _Tatum called to Luna.

_'Y-yes Tatum?...'_

Kayla blew her ice shards at Firenha and charged at Sky. Her blue eyes were pale and held no emotion as she attacked them. Cainnan used his earth abilities to create a protective wall in the path of the ice shards to let Firenha dive successfully out of the way with no injury. Sky took to the skies to dodge Kayla's attack.

_Terehawken has Kayla attacking us! We won't harm her, but we must get past the barriers on her mind! We need a way to get through to her before she kills us all! _

_'You have to weaken her somehow, bring to the point of exhaution so Terehawken's hold on her weakens in her state. Try an element that opposes her elements...'_

Kayla took off after Sky and tackled him, driving her horns into his belly. Sky 'oofed' and fell to the ground, quickly rolling back to his talons before Kayla could hit him with another attack. Tatum thought this over as she watched Kayla's movements. Kayla's element was ice, which was the same as water only colder. Thunder was water's opposing element.

Kayla also had light in her, but none here had darkness to oppose the light, so thunder was their best choice. Tatum powered up a thunder spell and struck Kayla with a lightning strike from her sword. The pink dragoness spotted the lightning and instantly grabbed hold of Sydney by the neck and threw her in front of the attack so she'd take the hit. Kayla let out a snicker as she watched her hit the ground. Sydney cried out in pain and went down, not getting back up.

Sky flew down to check on Sydney and glared at Kayla. Tatum strategized a bit. She had the power of light and so could move at such speeds, but so could lightning. They would need some major distractions in order to bring down Kayla and they would have to risk hurting her. Tatum placed a shield spell on Sydney and looked around at the others.

"Everyone! Weather Formation!" She called, placing a protection spell on herself and the others except Kayla. Sky nodded and took to the skies. Firenha nodded and hovered to the right. Cainnan nodded and lept to the left. Thunder rumbled across the sky and the clouds darkened to black.

Firenha powered up and the temperature started to rise. Cainnan placed his hand on the ground, the earth slowly forming around his hand. Sky powered up and the clouds began to swirl, eardrums were popping as the air pressure dropped dramatically. The wind picked up as a massive tornado dropped down around them, uprooting trees and lifting large boulders as if they were cotton balls. Debri was raining all around them, but luckily Tatum's protection spells kept them safe.

Cainnan lifted his hand off the ground, revealing a stone hand, which he smashed back into the ground and caused a massive earthquake. It was at least a 10-pointer. By now Firenha's heat wave would cause one to be sweating profusely and getting fatigued from the body's attempts to keep cool, even a reptile would be having trouble enjoying it at this point. The debris inside the tornado was now bursting into flame from the intense heat and fire was raining down on them. Tatum powered up again to ready the Thunder spell once more.

Kayla stared at the attack nervously, but held her ground. Tatum shot the spell at Kayla again. She covered herself with her wings and took the attack. A large explosion erupted and the field was enveloped with a bright light. Tatum shielded her eyes for a moment, as did the others, but the storms didn't cease.

When the light dimmed, Kayla lay motionless on the ground, covered with dirt and burns from the storm. Tatum signaled to the others to stop the storms and they ceased as quickly as they appeared, the surrounding area becoming still, quiet and cool again. Tatum kept the protection and shield spells active, just in case, as she carefully walked up to Kayla. She knelt down and inspected her mind. The barriers were still there, but they weren't as strong as before.

Tatum placed her hand on Kayla's head, trying to get past the barrier's again. It was difficult and her brow furrowed in concentration. The others kept themselves ready in case she started attacking again. Tatum pushed as hard as she could and soon the barrier's cracked and she could feel another force pushing towards her. It didn't feel like the same force that held the barrier's, but something rather familiar.

Could it be Kayla fighting back for control? It was highly possible with the barrier's now weakening. Tatum kept pushing and she felt the other force pushing just as hard. Soon the barrier shattered from the stress of both forces trying to break through and Tatum withdrew from Kayla's mind, hoping this battle was over for now. She opened her eyes and looked down at Kayla.

"Kayla? Can you hear me?" She asked.

Kayla stirred and looked up with a familiar look in her deep blue eyes. "T-Tatum? Wha-what...happened?" She fell unconscience after speaking and fell limp. Tatum smiled a little and stood, looking around at the others.

"Is anyone else hurt?" She asked. The others shook their heads as she made her way over to Sydney. She undid the shield spell and knelt down to heal her. She slowly woke up and looked up at Tatum.

"Ugh... I hate lightning..." She grumbled, "Is Kayla okay? Did we save her?"

Tatum nodded. "She'll be fine. She needs rest as do you."

Sydney smiled and nodded, falling asleep right there. Tatum smirked and went back over to Kayla. Sky swooped down and landed next to her.

"So, what do we do now?" He asked. Tatum healed Kayla's wounds, but she still remained unconscious.

"For now, we set up camp and rest here. We'll need Kayla's help if we're going to find Terehawken's Citadel and rescue the others," She replied, standing up. She gently lifted Kayla and carried her over to Sydney as Cainnan started picking through the scattered debris for any usable wood for a fire. Tatum set Kayla down next to Sydney as Cainnan set a pile of wood down in the center of what was their battlefield. The area around them was now in ruins from the storms and it was once beautiful.

Firenha blew fire onto the wood and hovered over the flames. Tatum sat down next to Kayla and Sydney, Cainnan sitting down next to her. Sky perched himself on a nearby fallen tree and covered his face with his wing to fall asleep. Firenha curled into the flames and fell asleep while Tatum remained awake to watch over the others as night fell around them. Cainnan was asleep next her, sprawled out on the ground as she looked up at the stars with a doleful expression.

"I pray our sin won't come back to destroy us just as we have destroyed this place..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two** - The Newcomer

Kayla woke up in the middle of the night and saw everyone had fallen asleep except for Tatum.

"Ugh..my head...." she groaned. _'Damn you, Terehawken...'_ She sat up rubbed her eyes. "Hey Tatum...long time no see, huh?"

Tatum looked over at Kayla and smiled warmly. "Hello, Kayla. How do you feel?"

"I feel like I just got burned, smacked around, and jolted," she replied, "I guess I had it coming for attacking you guys..."

"It wasn't your fault, but we're glad to have you back," Tatum said. Kayla sighed.

"I couldn't stop myself....I didn't even know what I was doing. It's like I was set aside and something else took over..."

"Do you know if your friends suffered the same fate?" Tatum asked.

"I think so...if did, then I'm sure Terehawken did the same to the rest of us. How did you find out what happened to us though?"

"Luna sent a distress call to me. She told me how to get here and I assembled who I could. We were hoping you could fill in the blanks and show us how to get to Terehawken's Citadel." Tatum said.

Kayla smiled. "It's a bit of a walk from here, probably take us a few days. But I think the others are going to be expecting us along the way...but I'm glad Luna wasn't affected."

"Let's hope she stays that way until we get there," Tatum said, looking back up at the stars, "We should take turns keeping watch, in case another one of our friends show up under Terehawken's influence." Kayla nods and takes a spot far off from where she was and looks up at the stars.

_'It's beautiful tonight....'_

Suddenly, one of the starts started to move, and with great speed. It streaked across the night sky, its brilliant fire illuminating the ground. At first, it appeared to be another shooting star, but soon began to get closer... and closer...

The fireball streaked over Kayla's head, flying clear over the group and smashing into the ground just beyond. A great plume of dirt blasted up from the site and dirt and debris rained upon the area. Kayla instantly stood up. "Holy shit!" She looked behind her to see if anyone saw the flying object, but no one stirred. So she decided to investigate herself and rushed toward the fallen object.

The fallen object was not a rock... or anything that closely resembled a rock. It was metallic, grey and was still smoking from the entry. It sat in a crater and she caught sight of the letters 'UERAF' painted onto what she gathered was the front of the object. As she went closer to the object, a pop blew her ear drums and the forward pannel flew off as small explosions jetisoned it. The pannel skidded on the ground and as the smoke cleared, she saw a chair sitting in the center of the pod, with blue glowing screens around it.

On the chair was a blue crystal, with a black arrow imprinted on the front of it.

Kayla walked closer to the crystal. "Oh my..." she breathed and moved to touch it, "It's beautiful..but what is it doing here?" Her talon makes contact to the crystal, feeling its smooth surface.

At once the crystal blew out an large dose of light, blinding her. As she recoiled back, her talon touched a small switch next to the chair and it clicked, a small green light blinking in contrast to the bright blinding light flashing from the crystal. Finally, the crystal began to dim and the silhuette of a dragon begins to form. Kayla reopens her eyes and is shocked when she sees the body of a male dragon take the place of the crystal.

The dragon was black, with a red under belly and wing skins. His two sets of horns were golden and there were three triangle symbols on his body, one on his head and the other two on his shoulders. The dragon had a wound on his stomach. It looked as if it were healing. The dragon was also sound asleep. Kayla walks up to the black dragon slowly, getting a closer look at him.

"Wow...this is..whoa..." Kayla's heart pounded as she stared at the dragon and then his wound. "Seems like you've been through a lot...for someone who just fell out of the sky." She set his body on her back carefully and walked back toward the camp, wondering what world he came from.

On the screen behind her, a small text message strolled across the screen:

DISTRESS SIGNAL AWAY///385493-0029374//POD_DOWN-CORDINATES IMBEDDED- SEND AID//3929498-END//d-8-11-2226

-------

Kayla walked back to the camp with the black dragon and set him down gently by the fire. Tatum was awake by now and her eyes widened at the sight.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I saw this thing fly over my head and land somewhere far off from here. And then the door blew off and I saw this blue crystal. I touched it, and then it disappeared and he took its place! I didn't want to leave him there alone, so I just brought him along with us."

Tatum looked at the black dragon, taking in his details. She couldn't tell at this time if he were a threat or an ally. She figured they'd find out once he woke up. Tatum then looked back toward the fire.

"Get some rest, Kayla. We'll need whatever energy we can salvage to save our friends," She stated. Kayla nodded and layed down on the grass, giving one last look to the black dragon before falling asleep. Tatum looked back up at the stars and sent a message to Luna.

_Luna? Can you still hear me?_

_Ugh...yes Tatum? _

_We saved Kayla. I thought you'd like to know._

_Thank you Tatum....please...save Zombie Snake for me also....if anything were to happen to him...._

_I know Luna, don't worry, we'll do everything in our power to save Zombie Snake._

Meanwhile...

"Sir, we're picking up a distress beacon." An officer said as he swiveled in his chair.

"Put it on the main moniter." The Commander ordered.

"Aye sir." The officer turned back around, flipped a few switches and a distress beacon text message played across the central viewing moniter of the outpost's command station: ///385493-0029374//POD_DOWN-CORDINATES IMBEDDED- SEND AID//3929498-END//d-8-11-2226

It was strange to the Officer in command. This remote United Earth outpost at the Deshmier Colony never received any distress beacons. The Human Officer looked at the message before sighing.

"Send this message to Admiral Freeman. He'll know what to do." The commander ordered.

"Aye sir, message sent."

Meanwhile...

"Sir, message from Gamma Long Range Outpost, they've picked up a beacon." The Coms operator said to the man standing at the bridge of the UERNF Cruiser in orbit around Deshmier.

"Hmmm... where are these coordinates?" The Admiral asked.

"Well beyond any UER controlled space sir. Here." His Navagations officer pointed to a star map that was pulled up and it showed a small blip representing the distress signal. It was far from them but they were the closest colony to the signal.

"Get me the Frigate Thunder." With that, an image of a man appeared on the monitor. That of the Captain of the UERNF Frigate Thunder.

"What is it Admiral, sir?" The Captain said while saluting.

"As you were." The Admiral said while returning it.

"Captain, we've picked up a distress beacon from an Orbital Drop Pod. I want you to follow these coordinates to its location and locate the survivor, if he's still alive. Also, find out why the pod is all the way out there, out of UER space. Find out where it came from and recover its Black Box as well. If you find any survivors, extract them back to UER Space. Is this clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, uploading coordinates and message now."

"Right sir, on our way."

With that the Captain snapped off the view screen and turned to his crew.

"All right, prepare to jump. Alert the crew and have everyone ready for transition."

"Where are we headed sir?" The Navagations Officer asked.

"Coordinates are in the computer already. Just follow them and send us there."

"Just where is 'there'."

"Hell if I know, but we're going there."

-----------------------------------------

Kayla woke up to the sun beaming down on her eyes. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and sat up from her spot. The black dragon was still asleep, and Kayla shrugged.

"Mornin, Tatum."

Tatum was awake and appeared to be cooking something over the fire. She looked over at Kayla and smiled. "Good morning, Kayla."

"Kayla!" came a familiar voice from behind. Sydney ran up to Kayla and all but glomped her. Tatum chuckled at this.

"Oof!" Kayla chuckled and tackled Sydney. "Hey girl! Long time no see!"

Sydney laughed and tried to pin Kayla. "I'll have to admit. You're a real die-hard to take down!"

"Heh, I'd say the same thing for you too!" Tired from their wrestling and sat by the fire. "Whatcha cookin?"

"Some type of rodent-like creature that Sky hunted. According to him, they're edible," Tatum replied. Firenha hovered up beside them.

"Hey, Kayla. Feeling better?" She asked, rubbing her slightly domed abdomen. Kayla nodded, taking a spot by the black dragon. "I wonder how long this guy is gonna be knocked out..."

"It depends on what he's been through," Tatum replied, testing the flavor of the food. She made a satisfied expression and stirred the food a bit more. "Just a little longer..."

Sky flew down and landed next to Sydney. "I see you've decided to join the living, Kayla."

She scoffed, "Like I was ever dead."

There was a new sound amongst the group and everyone turned their attention to the black dragon as he stirred from his sleep, groaning and slowly opening his eyes.

"W-where am I...?" He siad in a hoarse voice.

"You're on Reptilia, eastern region to be more precise. How are you feeling?" Tatum replied.

"Ow... my head..." The dragon gripped his head and as he stood up, almost doubled over as the wound in his stomach sent pain through his body. He cringed and groaned as pain rocked his nerves. Kayla went to his side, concerned.

"Hey, are you all right? That wound looks pretty bad.."

The dragon grunted. He didn't hear the other dragon's comment. Instead he looked around. As he looked to his new surroundings his face ran pale. He looked around frantically and had a look of fear to him.

"W-where's Damian?! Where's Taiga?! Who... who are you?!" He said in a panicked voice. Kayla gave him an odd look.

"Umm...I'm Kayla, I found you in some..UERAF box...thing..I don't know."

"In... in a what?" The dragon was confused... delirious... probably disoriented in the way he spoke. She rested a paw on his shoulder, "Hey, you need to calm down for now. I think you're taking in too many things at once."

"She's right. If you panic you won't be able to think straight and you may put yourself in more pain," Tatum stated, pouring some of the food into a bowl.

The dragon sat and gripped his head, pain going through his body. He sat back down but had a really worried face on him. Kayla looked down at the wound on his stomach.

"How'd you get hurt?" she asked, "If it's not a taboo subject."

The dragon looked down at his stomach and frowned. He opened his jaw and tried to think of the right words, but nothing came out.

"I... got it... in a fight..." He simply said, a small tear visible in his eyes. "Oh..." she replied, "I just you've had it rough from where you came from."

"You... could say that..." He said while rubbing his wound. He cringed a bit from the pain. "Things... do get rough..."

"Are you hungry? It may help if you eat something," Tatum asked, offering the bowl of food to the black dragon.

The black dragon looked at her for a second before taking the bowl and started to eat from it, almost gulping the whole thing in a single bite. Sydney blinked before chuckling. "Careful, you could choke eating it like that."

Tatum smirked and poured another bowl for Kayla, offering it to her. As she did, the black dragon finished his bowl and coughed, gasping for air after his gobbling of the food. Sydney looked at the black dragon in concern for a moment. "Told ya. If you can cough, keep coughing."

The dragon coughed in response and gasped for air a final time before breathing normally.

"Sorry... its... just that I haven't eaten in a while..." He said.

"We can tell," Sydney stated after giving the dragon a once-over, "What's your name?"

"Corporal Ash, 72nd UCC." He stated while rubbing the wound on his stomach.

"I'm Sydney, this is Kayla, Tatum, Sky, Firenha and Cainnan," She said, "Nice to meet you Ash!"

"Hi... nice to meet you too..." Ash sighed, looking at the two humans in the group and then returning a sad glance to the fire. Tatum poured another bowl for Sydney and offered it to her. Sydney took the offer, eating the food.

"Would you like me to heal that wound for you Ash?" Tatum asked.

"Uh... sure, if you can." He siad, a bit curious. Tatum nodded and moved closer to Ash, Sydney moving out of the way. Tatum placed her hand gently over his wound and muttered a type of spell. A light emitted from her hand and a few moments later, the wound was completely healed as the light disappeared.

"Uh... thanks." He said, looking a bit stunned. "How'd you do that?"

"Tatum has some light powers, so she can heal others with them too," Kayla answered.

"Light... powers?" Ash cringed as he said this.

"Yeah, you know, so she could heal you."

"Yeah... right... heal... " Ash seemed sad and looked at the fire once more. Suddenly he cringed and gripped his head, his paw directly over the arrow on his head. He growned out as a burning pain assaulted him. Kayla looked at him concerned.

"Hey, are you all right? Do you have a headache?" she asked, worried.

He groaned aloud, almost a yell. "My head... is... burning!"

Kayla grips him by the shoulders. "Hey, you need help?"

"No! Stay back!" He said as he gripped his head and moved his claw out to keep her back. Sydney stepped back away from Ash and Tatum raised an eyebrow at his behavior. Sky watched Ash apprehensively.

"Um... he isn't schizophrenic is he?" He asked. Firenha smacked him upside his head and looked over at Ash. Kayla quickly gripped Ash by the wrists.

"C'mon Ash, let us help!"

Ash screamed in pain as she did so. His wrists started to glow and a small explosion sent Kayla off of him and Ash flying into the dirt a few feet. He skidded to a halt and groaned silently as he tried to get back up. Kayla rubbed her head, and looked at him.

"What the hell was that?!" she yelled.

"It felt like a burst of dark power," Tatum replied.

Ash looked at them for a bit before scrambling to his feet.

"S-stay back!" He yelled before turning around and darting off into the field. Kayla ran after him

"Ash! Wait!"

"Leave me alone!" He yelled and kept running. He kept going and then slowly came to a halt. The crashed pod he had arrived in was right in front of him. He stood before it in silent suprise. Kayla slowed and stopped by him.

"That's the thing I found you in...." she said calmly. He ignored her and walked forward, looking inside. He looked around the inside and digging through things. He pressed a key on one of the boards inside and data flashed across the screen. Ash eyed it, trying to understand it. He finally read a message on it that read: POD LAUNCH-3-29-2225

"No..." He muttered. He sighed sadly and opened a hatch inside, pulling out a bandoleer with a few pouches and slipping a few things inside. He crawled out of the pod, shot Kayla a glance, and started to walk away. Kayla turned to him.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked.

"I don't know... away from here... just leave me alone..." He said sadly while looking at the ground. He slowly trotted away as he slipped the pouches onto his chest. Kayla trods by his side.

"And where exactly do you think you're going? I doubt you know anything about this place!" she argued.

"I don't need to know... I just want to find a nice quiet place to die... I'm tired of this all..." He siad while walking off, not even looking at her, his head sadly drooped downwards. She kept being persistent.

"Hey come on, you can't die! That's the worst thing you'd want to do!"

"Whatever... just leave me alone..." He siad, a bit of anger mounting in his voice. She stands in front of him, blocking his way.

"You know what? I don't know what your problem is, but you seriously need an attitude change."

"I'm not the one with the problem, just leave me the hell alone! I never asked for your help! Besides, what's with that damn bone arm?!" He said, anger flowing out of his every word. She remained silent, but her anger started to rise.

"...that's not relevant, okay? But there's no way I'm just letting walk away where you're most likey to get yourself killed!"

"Good! I hope I do..." He said with a scoff. He turned his head away angirly and started to walk again. Kayla pushed him back. "The hell with that, retard!"

"Why can't you leave me alone?!" He said while pushing her away. Kayla scoffed and pushes him back. " 'Cause I can't! I'm not letting you get yourself killed!"

"Well who asked you?! I'm sick of being alive... I'm only endangering the ones I'm with..." A few tears fell from his eyes and he jerked his head away so she wouldn't see him start to cry. Kayla starts to calm down, seeing a glint of his tears.

"Oh come on, don't be like that..." she said softly. "It's not helping yourself when you think that way..."

"It's true... everyone I've been near has been hurt... " He was struggling to hold back his tears. "I'm sorry mom... I'm so sorry... " He said softly, his body recoiling from hicups produced from his crying. Kayla walked closer to him.

"Ash? Is your mom....?" she fails to complete her sentence.

"Dead... just like all the rest..." He siad, tears falling from his face and onto the ground."I wasn't strong enough to save her..." He held back a huge wave of tears and a few spashed onto the ground as his head jerked to help fight back the wave of emotions. Kayla rested a paw on his shoulder.

"Don't cry....if it helps..my family's dead, so I understand what it's like having that loss...." Ash sniffled.

"I just wish... I could have saved her..." He closed his eyes tightly. "Instead she used the last of her energy to save me. And now... now... " He cringed and sniffled again. Something inside Kayla was being torn as she watched him, and felt she had to comfort him some way. She cupped his face with both paws and lifted his head.

"Ash...look at me..."

Ash lifted his head, tears falling from his face. Tears flowed from his face and he sniffed again, trying to stop crying, but obviously failing. She gave him a soft look, brushing the tears away from his cheeks with her palm.

"I might not understand what you've gone through, but I know that your mother had no regrets protecting you. And if you really love her, then you'd live for her." Ash sniffed at the comment. He looked at her for a second longer.

"I guess... you're... right..." He said lowly. Kayla smiled at him.

"Trust me...I understand....."

Ash looked up at her and tried to respond with a smile, but waves of emotion still nagged at him. He looked back to the camp where the others were and back to the pod. He glanced at her before walking back to the pod, looking it over one last time, as if trying to figure out something. She eyed him curiously.

"So...what is this thing, anyway?"

"It's an orbital drop pod... used by the Human Military to drop in soldiers from space for special combat missions..." He looked at it intently before speaking again. "You say you found me in here?"

"Yeah, but the weird thing is that you were actually a crystal when I found you..."

"Huh? A crystal?"

"Yeah, a small blue one with some black marking on it like yours. I went and touched it, and woo, you appeared."

Ash stared at her in disbelief for a few seconds, taking in what she just said. He looked back at the pod and looked stunned, shocked, and lost. He turned away from it. "We... should go back to the others..." She nodded.

"You're right," she turned and started walking back to camp. After a slow and silent walk, they arrived back at the campsite where the group sat. Tatum was eating some of the food in her own bowl when they had arrived.

"Everything okay with you two?" Sydney asked, looking over at Kayla and Ash. Sky was watching Ash as if waiting for him to freak out again and run off.

"Yeah... everything's alright..." He muttered in a low voice.

"There's still food leftover if you'd like some more," Tatum suggested. Ash took up her offer, eating food as if he hadn't eaten in days. Kayla took a spot next to him and ate some fish, since they were favorite.

"So," she said after swallowing, " where do you come from?"

"I'm from Draconous." He said. She gives him an odd look.

"Where's that?"

"You're guess is as good as mine. The Humans named it Draconous and were the ones that showed us that there were other worlds." He said in reply. Kayla chuckled, "I believe it, after meeting these guys.."

Sydney chuckled at that. They talked amongst themselves for a few more minutes until Tatum stood up and put out the fire. "We should continue on our way if we want to get to our friends in time," She reminded.

"Friends? What's going on? Is there someone in trouble or something?" He asked, standing up. Kayla nodded.

"Yeah, my friends were captured by this evil dragon, Terehawken. I was too and was controlled by him from citadel. I think my friend Luna wasn't affected and gave them the news and they came to save us. I'm back, but the others are still in his hands. He's probably going to send someone out again."

"Great... more fighting..." Ash sighed and rubbed his head. Kayla chuckles, "Exactly what I was thinking.."

Ash smirked, looking back in the direction of the pod and then back to the group.

"It never ends..." He said before rubbing his head one more time. Tatum gathered her things as everyone finished up and prepared to leave.

"On we go!" She stated, letting Kayla lead them to Terehawken's Citadel.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three** - Enter Darkness

Terehawken tapped the rests of his throne, waiting for the guard to bring his prisoner in.

The guard walked in and pushed Luna down to his feet.

"It seems your friend has been saved by your other friends," he growled, "Hrmph, I thought that pink whelp would put more of a fight than she did."

Luna smirked at this. "See? As if you'd ever win...."

Terehawken stood up from his thrown and walked down to her. "Did you think I only called you here to discuss of the pathetic attempts of your friends to stop me?" He grabbed hold of her hair and forced her to look at the corner of the room. Her eyes widened in shock and horror when she recognized the figure standing there.

_'No...'_

----

Tatum and the others were following Kayla through more woods, heading towards Terehawken's Citadel. Kayla stopped.

"Ugh...."

Sydney looked at Kayla with concern. "What is it Kayla?"

"Ummm," she blushes, "I don't really know where we're going..."

If this were an anime, all except Kayla would've "surprise timed" (a.k.a that emote where anime characters flip over when something embarrassing or unexpected happens). Sky sighed. "Alright, what does this citadel look like anyway?"

"Ugh....I don't remember..." she said uneasily.

Ash sighed. "Well, a citidel is like a palace right? So why not just look for the biggest damn structure we can find?" Kayla nodded. "I guess..."

Sky took the incentive to fly up and ahead of them, looking for anything that could resemble what Ash described. It only seemed like a few minutes when they heard a loud "HOLY CRAP!!" and then saw Sky swoop down on them with a paniced expression. Sydney raised an eyebrow at him. "What was that all about?"

" I mean really, what could possibly be so scary?" Kayla asked. Sky panted, trying to catch his breath and looked up. Suddenly his eyes widened and he pointed with a shaky wing.

"That!"

A snake hybrid was slithering toward them, and dark and cold glare in his dull, amber eyes. He had a pair of feathered wings on his skull and red stripeds along his back and tail. Three purple spikes extended from his back and he had arms of muscular build with claws at the ends of his hands. A black fog surrounded him as a strong dark force was sensed from him. The group wide-eyed and Sydney stepped back.

"It's Zombie Snake!" Sydney exclaimed.

"Great... You're telling me we gotta fight him too?" Sky complained.

"It seems so..." Firenha replied, very uneasy at the idea.

"Something tells me it's not going to be easy to get him to snap out of it," Kayla growled.

"Luna's suggestion is the only plan of defense we have against him. We have his weakness at the ready, so we must use it to weaken him or we'll die," Tatum reminded.

"But it could cost him his life too if we're not careful..." Kayla warned.

"That's why we'll do the same thing we did for you. Evasive and defensive maneuvers only," Tatum stated.

Ash looked around, seeing them form a defense.

"What the hell do I do...?" He asked as he backed off to the side, away from the group. He felt a strong dark presense nearby and gripped his head as he felt something inside of him throb. If it weren't for the fact that he was a dragon, and cold blooded, he'd be sweating.

"Well, you can either stick to the sidelines until this is over," Kayla responed, "Or join in."

Ash smirked and decided to keep his distance, rather he watch then fight. Tatum and the others got into formation and watched Zombie Snake's every move. His tail rattled threateningly as a low growl was heard from him. His claws were sparking with dark energy and he glared at his targets. Tatum transformed her staff into a sword and readied herself for any attack.

Zombie Snake growled and lunged forward, snapping his jaws at Sky. Sky flew up into the air, dodging Zombie Snake's attack.

"Arcane Twister!" A tornado full of dark energy shot out of Zombie Snake's palm and hit Sky directly. Sky was then blasted and fell to the ground, wounded. He slowly tried to get back up as he still kept an eye on Zombie Snake. He growled, and Zombie Snake turned his attention toward Kayla.

"You little bitch," he said in a deep voice, "You're mine!" He charged at her, claws flexed. Kayla gasped and she leaped back, his claws smashing into the ground. Kayla breathed her ice breath at him and kept his claws to the ground. Tatum quickly went over to Sky and healed him. She then placed a protection spell over Ash since he chose not to participate in the fight.

Zombie Snake roared and tried to break out of the ice, his eyes were flashing between amber and crimson red. Sydney noticed the color change and grew worried. "We need to figure out a way to wrap this up before he switches over!"

He roared and writhed, the ice is started to crack as his blood boiled.

Ash looked out and saw him, sitting behind the forcefield. He pondered whether he should help but decided to wait a bit. He felt a large amount of darkness coming off of this new foe though...It made him feel cold...He rubbed the arrow on his forehead and sat as they fought, growing impatient as he did so. With one last pull, Zombie Snake broke free and roared, dark energy swirled around him and covered him in a black and purpled fog.

The sky darkened and the sky gained a red tint. Streaks of darkness burst from the fog and hit any object that was nearby and destroyed it.

"He's transforming!" Kayla warned.

"Into what?!" Ash asked as he watched, a burst of darkness smashing into the shield and sending Ash back as a result from overpressure. Tatum placed protection spells on everyone to shield them from the blast as Zombie Snake transformed.

The fog disspated and Zombie Snake's scales had turned purple and his stripes turned into a darker purple, his underbelly into a pale purple. His rattle morphed into a sharp tail-blade and the spikes on his back turned black and extended. The feathery, white wings on his head morphed into a pair of black horns and a pair of secondary horns. His eyes turned blood red and his slits turned green and were full of bloodlust. Lastly, the sun on his forehead changed into a cresent moon.

Kayla shuddered from the chill in the air.

"He transformed...into a full-demon..."

"We need to end this now," Tatum warned, readying a light spell. Demon Zombie Snake roared and fired a powerful burst of dark energy at Kayla and she dodged. She charged at him and slashed his chest with her claws. With a pained roar, he threw her off and got ready to stike her. Tatum then fired her light spell at Demon Zombie Snake, hoping to weaken him. His eyes darted toward her direction and shot another burst of dark energy and countered it. Kayla kicked him off and got away.

DZS snarled and diverted his attention toward the others. Tatum readied another light spell, one more powerful than the last. DZS disappeared in a flash but reappeared in front of Tatum, punching her shield and cracking it. Tatum blasted DZS with the light spell, trying again to weaken him. He disappeared again but then reappeared in front of Sky, blasting him dark energy and the shield shattered so it consumed him.

Sky cried out in pain and fell unconscious to the ground from the darkness. Tatum readied another light spell, one that would hopefully end this fight. DZS charged up his claws with massive amounts of dark energy, preparing his Darkness Fury. Once ready, Tatum positioned her sword so that it was facing down toward the ground. It lit up with white light, lighting up the symbols and markings etched into the blade, and she brought the blade down to stab the ground.

Light erupted throughout the area instantaneously, engulfing everything and anything within a mile radius of the impact.

Ash was sent out of his shield and collided on the ground. The light energy was making his head spin and the symbol on his head burned. He looked up to see DZS just ahead of him.

"Ah shit..." He said. DZS was burned from the purfication effects from the light, but he still kept the energy he had gathered. The attack only made DZS even more furious and crazed. With piercing roar, he unleashed the explosion of dark energy gathed in his being.

"**DARK FURY! BLACK ARCANUM!**"

The sky turned into a sickly green tint as meteors were shooting down from the sky and landing onto the ground. As soon as they hit, the area surrounding started die as they sucked the life out of everything. Kayla coughed from the poisonous vapors they gave off. Tatum gathered more energy to keep the blast of light intact. She looked at the others. "Everyone! Stay near me!"

Sydney took Sky and carried him over to Tatum's side as the others drew near her. Kayla glared at DZS angrily, and he returned it just as angrily and full of hate. Tatum looked over at Kayla as her light energy was melting away the darkness. "Kayla! Stay near me! Hurry!"

Kayla didn't listen, but instead, started stepping toward DZS. He hissed and started slithering toward her, flexing his claws and getting ready to soak them in her blood. His rivalry between him and the pink dragoness was still recognizable. Tatum strengthened the energy of the blast. "Kayla! Forget your rivalry for now! We have more important things to worry about! You can continue this when Terehawken no longer lives!"

"Kayla! Listen to the woman! He'll kill you!" Ash yelled out as he neared, feeling a great deal of darkness.

She shook her head and lunged at DZS. He leaped at her with his clawed bared. Tatum frowned at this. "Kayla! Which is more important to you, your friends or your pride?!"

Kayla tackled DZS to the ground, her talons at his throat. "It's the pride of protecting my friends.....even from a friend." He growled and pierced her side with his tail-blade. She screamed in pain and he took the chance to punch her in the stomach and knock her off. Kayla regained her balance, blood dripping down her side. He raised his tail-blade to his mouth and licked the blood of it.

"**Blood coming from a celestial dragon always tastes so sweet...it's as if tasting its purity,**" he snickered,** "Hn, it's almost sickening.**" Kayla growled in response and blew ice shards at the demon. He quickly evaded and lunged at her. She whipped around and her tail collided into his head and he smacked into a tree. He got up, hissing menacingly.

"So do these two know each other or something?!" Ash asked Tatum.

"Yes! They're rivals mostly, but they do best when they work together!" Tatum replied. Keeping the sword in the ground and the blast still potent, she extended her arm out to the side of her, summoning light shards. She aimed the shards at DZS and threw them accurately at him. DZS snarled and blasted the shards with dark energy so they were dispelled. He then turned his attention back to Kayla, who was coughing from the poisonous gases but held her ground. She head-bashed him in the chest and scratched him across the face. He brought his claws around and tried clawing her, but she raised her right arm and his claws got caught between her bones. She smirked and kicked him in the gut so he'd stumble back.

"**You're a real fighter, but that's not stopping me from tearing you limb from limb...**" He grinned maliciousaly and vanished. Kayla looked around confused, not knowing where he'd attack.

Suddenly, he reappeared right in front of her and stabbed her right in the chest. She let out a loud scream and he pinned her to the ground with his tail, the blade right at her throat.

Ash growled and leapt at DZS and Kayla, aiming to knock the tail blade away from her throat. DZS smirked at grabbed a hold of his throat, his claws digging into his scales. Kayla struggled underneath his tail, but couldn't pull free.

"**You think you can stop me?**" he mocked. Ash gagged.

"Stop an asshole like you...? Maybe..." He said in a hoarse voice. With that, DZS hissed and sank his fangs into Ash's neck, breaking a nerve and paralyzing him.

"Ash!" Kayla yelled. Ash gagged out and his extremidies twitched like a child's toy as his limbs were disabled. He coughed and his pupils became a bit dilated. His eye lids started to droop as well from the paralalysis. DZS grinned and tossed Ash's limp body aside as if he were a rag doll. His long, forked tongue licked the blood off his fangs and craved for more blood.

"You're a monster!" Kayla screamed at him, struggling even more under his tail. He held no guilt or remorse in his eyes for her as his tail-blade was once again at her throat, only this time, he trailed it down along her collar and a trail of blood trickled down her neck. She winced from the pain, but refused to scream out in agony.

"**I'm gonna enjoy cutting you into little peices...**"

"K-Kayla..." Ash muttered as blood oozed from his neck and his eyelids closed.

"Get off me!" she yelled. He smirked and replied, "Make me..." But then he started to feel a burning sensation under his tail,

"Get....OFF!!!" A burst of light shot out of her and blasted DZS back, his chest smoking from purification. Kayla was panting hard from the amount of energy she exerted. Tatum saw this and, though shocked to see and feel a different energy burst out of her, formed a plan. If Kayla had light energy in her, then Tatum could transfer some of her own energy to her if needbe.

_Kayla! Can you get in touch with that energy and weaponize it?_

"I-I don't know! I don't even know how that even happened!"

_It appeared as if it were emotionally triggered from the stress..._

DZS snarled and lunged at Kayla in rage. She rolled out of the way in time and smacked his face with her tail. He whipped his head around and bit into her tail, slamming her into a tree. Tatum decided to watch Kayla's movements and keep track of her energy levels in order to determine exactly where that burst of energy came from. Kayla yelled out in pain, but twisted around and scratched DZS across the face. He hissed and threw her into a bush, three bleeding claw marks on his cheek.

"**You little bitch!**" he snarled.

Sydney was beginning to get worried about their friends and wondered if they'd wind up killing each other before they could save Zombie Snake. "Tatum, we have to do something! This could get really bad really quick!"

"What do you mean _could _get bad? It _is _bad!" Sky corrected.

Tatum continued to watch the two fight furiously with each other. "Kayla must bring out more of the power she displayed earlier before we can help her and save Zombie Snake."

The pink dragon was exhausted from trying to evade DZS's swipes and had even taken a couple hits from him. There were cut marks and bruises all over her body and her chest was heaving for air, although DZS looked like he didn't even break a sweat. He lunged at her swiftly and claws bared. Kayla leaped back and avoided the attack, but was taken by surprise when he leaped again, this time his fangs were bared. She let out a hig-pitched scream when she felt his fangs break through the scales on her neck. She was hurled back into the ground and had the wind knocked out of her. DZS pinned her down and sank his fangs even deeper in her neck, so if she even moved the slightest bit, he'd break her neck right there.

Sydney made a motion to charge at DZS, but Tatum grabbed her and held her back. Sydney looked up at Tatum indignantly. "What are you doing?! We have to do something! We can't just sit here and watch him kill her!"

Tatum kept her eyes trained on the fight. "If we move to help, he'll kill her. He needs only to move ever so slightly to do so."

Sydney looked back at the two, feeling distraught that she may have to watch her friend die, knowing there was nothing she could do about it. DZS smirked, causing Kayla to wince from his sharp fangs cutting a few veins inside her neck. He was going to kill her anyway, and she knew it, but he wanted her to suffer first.

Ash continued to lie on the ground, blood coming from the wound in his neck. It formed a red puddle that flowed from the open wound and soaked the ground. DZS chuckled.

"**Time for you to die, you little--**"

_'Zombie Snake...'_

He stopped, hearing a faint, feminine voice echoing in his head. His eyes started to flash between gold and red. DZS released his fangs from Kayla's neck and blood gushed out of the wound.

"L-Luna?" he grunted. He gripped his head and roared as Terehawken's hold over his mind was faltering. The others looked edgy and confused at the same time.

"Tatum.. what's happening to him?" Sydney asked, not looking away from Zombie Snake.

"I think... I think he's beginning to take back control," Tatum replied, also keeping her eyes on the fight. DZS gripped his head and screeching in pain. He even started ramming himself into the trees from his body and mind trying to regain control.

Then, he let out a loud roar and hurriedly disappeared into the shadows. Kayla had lost conciousness on the floor from the sudden drop in blood pressure. Tatum ran up to Kayla once DZS had disappeared and placed her hand on her wound to heal her. A white glow of light emitted from her hand and then dimmed, revealing a closed wound looking as if the injury never happened. Tatum then turned to Sky. "See if you can keep track of him from the skies. If he does regain control, we can't risk losing him to Terehawken again."

Sky nodded and flew off in the direction that DZS disappeared to. Tatum then walked over to Ash to heal him as well, but the others stayed with Kayla. Sydney looked down at her friend, concerned. "You okay?"

Kayla groaned, "Stop yelling...I'll do my chores later..." She fell unconcious again. Sydney blinked at that.

"Let her rest a bit. She'll need it if Zombie Snake comes back still under Terehawken's influence," Firenha suggested. Sydney nodded and sat down at Kayla's side as Tatum came back over to them, satisfied that Ash was going to be okay. Now, they just needed to wait and see what Sky would report to them about Zombie Snake. Sky returned a few minutes later looking morose.

"I can't find him. I think he might have traveled through a portal of some kind," He stated.

Tatum sighed. "It won't be the last we'll be seeing of him. Next time, we'll be ready."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**:** First Contact**

"Sir we are arriving in system now." The Navigations Officer turned in his chair to deliver this message to the Captain who smirked as he gripped the hand rails of his command console. They had been traveling in Hyperspace for the past few hours and they were all eager to begin their search and rescue mission.

The main viewing port showed the bright pink and purple colors of Hyperspace and parted to reveal stars, rocks and the thing that dominated the area- a planet.

"Syncing orbit now sir."

"Bring us closer to that planet. I want to record this system's coordinates for future study. Send a message stating we've arrived in system and are about to proceed with our mission." The Captain instructed.

"Aye sir, message away."

"Engines firing, moving closer to the planet sir." The planet began to grow on their main viewing window and the Captian pulled an image up to his command console.

"Sir, I'm not picking up any radio broadcasts or anything on any frequency from the world. If there are inhabitants, they aren't fully advanced. Though I am picking up the pod's distress beacon loud and clear. I have isolated its coordinates."

"Good, get me a scan of the atmosphere and bring us down for a better look. Prep two teams for launch and get us to operational status." The bridge officers went to their tasks, intercoms and radios going off as chatter floated through the bridge of the UERNF Frigate.

"Sir, readings show a level 1 atmosphere, its breathable and Earth-like." An officer said as he viewed his console. The Captain nodded and the ship's engines fired once more and the Human vessel flew into the atmosphere of the planet. As it sank beneath the clouds, a hanger bay opened and two UERMC drop ships floated from it and sailed towards the source of the beacon.

"Captain, this is Sergeant Hays, we are go for rescue op."

"Copy Sergeant. Remember, find any and all survivors and the pod's black box. Find out what its doing here, where it came from and get anyone that might have come from it alive, is that understood?"

"Yes sir, Hays out."

----------------------------------------------

In the sky, a large object parted the clouds above the group and sailed over their heads. The trees and bushes around them were moved in the gush of wind following the object and the massive object settled into a floating position thousands of feet in the air. They looked up, curious and stunned at the same time. They weren't sure what to make of this object and continued to watch its movements in order to determine whether it was a threat or friendly.

The object hovered in its floating position at over a thousond feet in the air. The object was large, possibly half a mile in length or more. Two small aircraft flew from a hole in it and streaked over their heads once more, going back the way they came. The group continued to watch the objects closely. Ash in particular watched the vehicles and it looked as if he was worried.

Sky noticed the look on Ash's face and raised an eyebrow. "Do they look familiar?" Ash gulped.

"Yeah... they do... we should... keep walking..." He said with a bit of fear in his voice. Tatum took this as good advice and Sydney lifted Kayla onto her back. Tatum then took out the makeshift compass that pointed toward Terehawken's Citadel and followed the direction it indicated, the others following close behind.

When they were far enough away, Sky looked back at Ash. "So what was that back there?"

"That... would be the Human military..." He siad solemnly.

"Any idea what they'd be doing here?" Sydney asked.

"Probably... looking for something..." Ash said while thinking and feeling a cold sensation run down his spine.

"They wouldn't be looking for you, would they?" Firenha asked. Ash stopped in his tracks.

"Uh... not that I would... know of..." He said. Tatum glanced at Ash before continuing on the trail. She could sense by Ash's tone that he was hiding something, but she wouldn't press the issue unless the humans became a problem.

-----------------------------------

"Empty..."

"Looks like it." The Human next to him said as they looked at the empty Orbital Drop pod before them. It had hit the ground and its door had come off.

"Well Sergeant, something did trip the beacon manually." One of the two Marines with them said.

"Right... well let's find out what did." Hays said before walking into the pod and looking at it.

"Hey, check this out." The other Marine said while he kicked the dirt with his boot. "Tracks."

The others looked and saw what the Marine had seen- tracks in the dirt.

"These aren't human..." He said.

"Looks like... dragon tracks..." Another said.

"Dragons? What would dragons be doing over here?"

"UCC maybe?"

"What the hell would UCC be doing operating _this_ far from UER territory?" Hays asked.

"Covert Operation?" Another asked.

"Unlikely. Well if it was a dragon, its gone now. Let's find him then. Let's load up and find him!" The Sergeant clicked his mic.

"Second squad, this is Sergeant Hays, search the area for any dragons that are wearing UER battle gear, do you copy?" He said.

_"Copy Sergeant, we are searching, out." _

"Alright, let's load up, Jackson, you got the black box?" He siad.

"Yes sir, got it." Jackson said as he left the pod, holding a small black box. They boarded a Nighthawk drop ship as it landed and it went airborne as they boarded.

_"Sergeant, we got eyes on a group of dragons, one of them with UER battle gear. You should have visual in 5." _The earpiece in Hay's ear said._  
_

"Copy, I see them. Moving in for contact." The Nighthawk flew near the group moving on the ground.

--------------------------------

Tatum led them over rocks, climbing and trying to keep from tumbling down the rocky hillside. Sydney wasn't having a good time of it seeing as she had extra weight to balance and was doing her best to keep from dropping Kayla. Firenha tried to help by holding Kayla in place on Sydney's back. Sky flew over them, circling them every so often to keep from going too far ahead of them. Cainnan kept close behind Tatum, slipping a bit every once in a while, but not falling down the side of the rocky hills. Soon they heard something approaching and saw an aircraft flying towards them. Tatum looked at the craft and stopped, watching its movements.

The others did the same as they still weren't sure whether or not these humans meant harm or were just neutral. If they were neutral, there was a good chance that they could negotiate and work their way around them. The drop ship halted in front of them and five Humans got off. Three were armed with assault rifles. The other two wore combat uniforms but bore no weapons. One of them walked over to them. Ash moved behind Tatum to not be seen.

"Greetings. I am Sergeant Hays of the United Earth Marine Corps. Have you seen a dragon with battle gear on similar to mine, or a crashed pod of some sorts?" The Human asked. Tatum noticed Ash's desire not to be seen by these humans and wasn't sure whether to take this as a good or bad thing.

She gave this Sergeant Hays a once-over. "Unfortunately I haven't, but if I do, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Thanks. Well let's keep looking." Hays said as he turned around and returned to the drop ship. Jackson tweaked with the black box and stopped the Sergeant before he reached the ship.

"Sir, I've got the pods launch date." He siad.

"Well, what is it?" The Sergeant asked.

"Its from March of last year sir... that pod was launched a year ago near the Limbia star system... several lightyears away from here..."

"Nobody could have survived in there for a year... must have been a wild creature that tripped the beacon..." The Sergeant said as the others started to board. One of the Marines did a double take before boarding.

"Sir, look at that dragon behind the woman, its got arrows on its arms." He said. The Sergeant froze and turned around. Ash whimpered silently and a few Marines walked around to see for themselves.

"Sir! He's right!" One of the Marines said and the ones with weapons pointed them at Ash. Ash froze in fear.

"It's an agent of the Dark Armies! Take him down!" Hays said as he grabbed his radio and reached for a combat knife hidden on his boot. Tatum quickly placed a protection spell on Ash and the others and prepared several shards of light in one hand, transforming her staff into a sword with the other. The others tensed and readied themselves to use their abilities just in case.

The Marines fired their weapons at the shield and the ammunition deflected off. The Marines started to retreat some as a precaution, still firing their weapons.

"Captain! We've got a situation! An agent of the Dark Armies is here! Possible cell here as well! We need more soldiers on the ground, over!" Hays said as he ran back to the drop ship and grabbed a rifle and clip, slapping the magazine into the weapon.

Tatum and the others went for cover. "Everyone! Offensive formation! Ash, look after Kayla!"

Sydney carefully placed Kayla down in an area that provided good cover. Cainnan placed his hand on the ground, which started to shake violently as an earthquake started. Sky flew up to avoid the tumbling rocks and Tatum placed a shield around the others to keep them from being harmed by the boulders.

"Take cover!" One of the Marines shouted and was hit by the boulders, sending him back. The others continued to fire, rifle rounds hitting the ground and close to the group. Ash knelt next to Kayla, moving around nervously as if one of the rounds were to nail him in the head. Bullets pinged off of rocks and off the shield over Ash. He cringed as they hit the shield. One of the Nighthawk drop ships hovered nearby, two guns mounted on its nose blaring as it fired heavy armor peircing ammunition at the group.

Sky flew over the Nighthawk drop ship, dodging the fire power. "Let's see how your ship fairs against windpower!"

He powered up and dived down, bringing a massive downdraft with him to level the drop ship.

The drop ship smashed into the ground and the Marines in the troop bay fell out of it, some limp while others roll and fire rifles at him. The other Marines on the ground kept firing at them, now targeting Sky. In the distance, a fast moving air craft was approaching them. The ship hovered at a distance, it bieng smaller then the Nightawks. On the side it bore the word "Raptor". It fired two machine guns at the group and a missile streaked from under its wing. Tatum used a lightning spell to strike the missile, which exploded on impact.

She then made the shards in her hand rise, closing her eyes and opening her mind's eye. This allowed her to see outside of her body without having to leave her cover. She had an overhead view of the battle and the positions of every soldier. She mutliplied the shards and sent them flying at the soldiers, impaling quite a few of them and badly injuring others.

The Marines screamed out, the shards striking through their armor and Hays took a hit in his leg. He fell down screaming.

"Medic!" A Marine shouted as he dragged one of his fallen comrades behind a boulder.

"Fall back, fall back!" Hays shouted. The surviving Marines from the other Nighthawk had used it as cover and were returning fire. A few of them lobbed grenades towards the group while another grabbed a sniper rifle, aiming at Sky. Cainnan took this opportunity to use his golem form. He kept his hand to the ground as the earthquake ceased and the rocks and stone began to merge with his hand, creeping up his arm and his legs until it covered his entire body.

Once the transformation was finished, he bounded over to the Marines, destroying their cover and smashing soldiers. Sometimes, he even lobbed bodies at them in the absence of weapons. The surviving Marines took cover and ran back, still firing their weapons. Sergeant Hays fired his rifle and the Raptor streaked above them.

"Captain we need those reinforcments now!" Hays shouted. He cluched the wound on his leg and another Marine fell to the ground next to him, blood pooling from a wound.

"We won't last much longer Sergeant!" Jackson said while firing his pistol. Things weren't looking good. They only brought a security detail with them to this world, which was 50 Marines and a single tank. The Frigate was the strongest weapon they had... wait... the Frigate...

"Captain, we need an orbital strike here now we're getting our asses handed to us!" He yelled into his mic. Tatum looked over the boulder she was using for cover and spotted the Sergeant. She formulated an idea, but she wasn't sure that it was going to work. She teleported to Sergeant Hays' position and grabbed him, teleporting to an area away from the battle. She shoved him against a tree and held her sword to his throat, glaring at him threateningly.

"I want answers and you _will _give them to me or I will give you the single most painful experience of your life and I won't give you the courtesy of 'dying honorably'. Now, why are you after that dragon?" Hays glared but gave a smirk.

"He has... the mark of evil... only soldiers of the Dark Lord bare that mark..." He coughed in her grasp. "We were sent here on a search and rescue mission for a downed pod... to find out why it was here... Our mission is clear... stop the spread of the Dark Armies... no matter the cost..." He said while she held the sword near his throat.

"Do you know if he has any control over his abilities or are you all too blinded by your fear to have any further knowledge?" Tatum asked, keeping the sword steady.

Hays laughed.

"Fear... lady... have you seen what those guys are capable of? Do you know what's at risk? Do you even know him, like his name?" He asked.

"His name is Ash. I've seen within his heart. It's not just darkness in him. I've dealt with beings worse than him, alone and very young. I'm prepared for anything he may have hidden inside him. Now, you and your men are dying and I have something you want, so I believe we're in a good position to negotiate." Tatum replied, sternly.

"You sure you want him? Entire colonies have fallen. Billions have died. Billions more wait helplessly for their demise... Ash... the name sounds familiar... " Hays closed his eyes. "Fine... I'll negotiate..." He said finally.

"I want you and your men to retreat and back down and leave Ash to me. With luck, there's a chance he can control his power and I can help him," Tatum stated, "In return, I'll heal you and your injured men, as well as restore your vehicles."

"Fine, we'll retreat. But I'm sure the Captain's already alerted Command. Don't expect them to agree with you..." Hays said as he coughed again, blood seeping from his leg.

"Can you convince them otherwise?" Tatum asked.

"I'm a Sergeant. My opinion doesn't matter to them. If the Captain notified them, they could just whipe this whole area out with orbital strikes..."

"How much time do we have until they attack?"

"A Hyperspace jump here could take anywhere from 6-24 Hours. Depends where they're coming from. I'd say only a few hours. They might have contacted the New Hope Fleet. They were patrolling not too far from this system..."

"Good enough," Tatum said, dropping Hays and then healing his wound, "Give them the order to retreat."

Hays glared at her and picked up his radio. "Hays to all squads, fall back to rally point Alpha, stand down." He said. With that, Tatum teleported back to the battlefield and signaled to the others to stand down as well. They regrouped back to her position and she sent out a burst of light. When it dimmed, the injured soldiers were fully healed and the drop ships were restored. Before the Marines retreated to Alpha, Hays stopped and turned to Jackson who was rubbing his arm which had been previously wounded.

"Jackson... pull up any information on Ash..." He instructed. Jackson imputted the information into a small computer he retreived from his pocket.

"Corporal Ash... 72nd UCC..." Jackson said.

"So he is a registered UCC soldier..." Hays said.

"Gender... Male. Race... Dragon. Age... 16. Status... Killed In Action... April 10, 2225..." Jackson said while looking at the data. Ash cringed as he heard the last words spoken by the Marine.

Sky looked over at Ash, giving him a slightly surprised look. "Wow, you weren't kidding about being a dead man with these humans, huh?"

"Sky, now isn't the time to be cracking jokes," Sydney admonished. Sky merely smirked at her.

"Medical files state he was killed by a large blow to the stomach and died from blood loss. That was a year ago..." Jackson said. Hays sighed.

"Let's go, nothing we can do about it..." He said. They boarded the Nighthawks and they flew off, Hays eyeing Ash suspiciously.

"I know Ash... from not just him being a soldier... but from something else..." He said as Jackson wipped dirt from his arm.

"Do you think Command will call off any forces being called here?" He asked.

"Doubt it... they'll shoot first and ask questions never..." He said while looking back.

--------------------------------------

Sydney sighed with relief as they left. "Glad that's over..."

Tatum remained serious and started off in the direction they were originally traveling. "We don't have much time. We need to keep moving before we're destroyed with this area."

Sydney picked up Kayla and placed her on her back. "What do you mean? You just had them retreat."

"It won't be the last we've seen of them..." Tatum replied as the others followed her. Ash gulped at the statment and watched the drop ships fly off towards the Frigate above them. She was right. They'd be back. With bigger guns. Kayla started to come to as she moaned and her eyes opened slighty.

Sydney looked over her shoulder at Kayla. "Kayla? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you've been out for a while..." Ash commented as he saw her come to. She rubbed her head.

"I have?" she asked as she got off Sydney, "How long was I out?"

"A couple hours or so," Sydney replied, "We have to keep moving though, unless we want to be wiped out with this area..."

She cocked her head to one side. "What?"

"We had a bad run-in with some human army and I guess we kind of pissed them off. According to Tatum, they'll be back with enough firepower to completely level this entire area and anyone in it," Sydney explained. Kayla was still a bit confused but nodded.

"Let's go then,"

"We better move..." Ash said as he walked away. "The Humans will destroy the place... we have to keep moving..." Ash said as a bit of anger settled in his voice. They continued walking onward toward Terehawken's Citadel, hoping to outrun the "big guns". Kayla turned to Ash.

"Hey um, Ash?" she stuttered.

"What?" He asked.

"Umm," she blushed, "Thanks for trying to help me back there...even though you got yourself paralyzed...I'm sorry..."

"It's alright... it's not your fault..." He said as he walked.

She blushed, "Thanks for trying though...I really appreciate it..." He slightly blushed as well but hid it.

"It was nothing really..." He said finally, a bit of embarrasment hidden in his voice. She smiled at him warmly.

Sky snickered. "It seems like everytime we get together someone winds up falling for somebody."

"The hell are you talking about?" Ash said as he craned his neck back to look at him.

"Yeah, can't you shut your beak for once, bird-brain?!" Kayla growled.

"Ah, the denial stage, huh? Well, don't worry, you'll see what I mean in time... hehe," Sky replied, flying up and over them.

Firenha shook her head at him and hovered over next to Ash. "If you'd like, I could knock him out of the sky for you."

"Be my guest," she replied.

Ash chuckled. "Go ahead, doesn't matter..." He said. Firenha prepared a fireball and aimed at the large, mouthy bird, throwing it accurately as he rounded to circle them. It hit him square in the back and he fell to the ground as he burst into flame. Firenha smiled to herself as they could hear frantic cries ahead of them. The cries eventually stopped when they got to his position and saw that most of his feathers were burnt to a crisp, but he suffered no serious damage.

He did look quite sullen and moody from the experience. Kayla was rolling on the floor, laughing. Sydney couldn't help but laugh as well and Firenha just looked smug. This only caused Sky to get even moodier and grumbled to himself as he stood back up and shook it off.

"Oh my god," Kayla laughed, "I wish ZB was here and crack a wise one at you!"

"Not me... If he were here right now, he'd be cracking bones not cracking wise.." Sky mused darkly. Kayla laughed even more.

"That's a good point!"

"Well let's keep going, we'll probably run into Zombie what's his name soon enough..." Ash commented as he walked onwards.

"It would really suck if we had to fight him and those humans at the same time..." Sky said, morose.

"Now that... would really suck..." Ash commented with a slight chuckle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

DZS slithered along the forest, darkness looming around him, pulsing from his aura. "Dammit… almost had them.."

His hands balled into fists so tightly that his claws drew blood from his palms. "I need to get rid of this thirst…"

He spotted a village not far from his position and he smirked deviously, flexing his claws. "I'm going to enjoy this…"

Meanwhile, Tatum continued leading the others onward toward Terehawken's Citadel with Sky flying above them. Kayla was now awake and following close behind. "So, what happened while I was out?"

"Some human army came by asking about Ash and when they found him, they tried to kill him and us," Sydney replied.

"Ah, and I was out even through all that?!" Kayla asked.

"Yep, you're one heavy sleeper," Sky replied. Kayla glared at him and raised her head to freeze his tail feathers.

Sky made a noise of surprise and fell out of the sky. "That felt unnecessary…"

Sydney sweat-dropped as Kayla smirked. Tatum sensed a terrible disturbance nearby and unfroze Sky's tail feathers. "Sky, give me a scout reading north of here…"

Sky nodded and flew up, seeing smoke rising above the trees where a village once stood. "There appears to be a village in trouble! Someone or something is attacking it!"

They rushed toward the burning village, but when they arrived, they were faced with carnage. Trees were set aflame while the village huts were destroyed, blood was splattered all over the ground where dead bodies laid and survivors were scrambling for safety as they were being slaughtered by a fast killer.

"What the hell is this?" Ash asked in horror.

"We have to help them!" Kayla stated.

Tatum inspected some of the bodies. "This looks to be the work of a demon…"

"Do you think it could be Zombie Snake?" Sydney asked.

"It's highly possible… we mustn't let our guard down," Tatum replied.

"Where is that bastard?" Kayla growled, running into the village. Her anger rose as the village became quieter.

"We shouldn't let her go alone!" Sydney exclaimed as she ran after Kayla. The others followed close behind, Ash groaning as he followed. He stopped for a second as he looked over at a far away cliff. He swore to himself that he saw two human Marines standing on the cliff, watching him and the others from afar. He realized it was true and even saw a tank on the cliff with them.

The Marines seem to be just watching from afar, not gearing for an assault. Ash then went with the others into the village, being cautious about his movements. In the village, DZS stabbed a Reptilian through the chest, bringing his claws up and licking the blood. Kayla snarled at him. "ZOMBIE SNAKE!"

DZS turned with an evil smirk on his face, blood sprayed all over his body. "Well, well, well… if it isn't the runt…"

"Come here and fight you heartless bastard!" Kayla challenged.

"Come and get me… I love a game of tag," DZS taunted, taking off away from her. He slashed through Reptilians who fell to the ground with a thud. Kayla roared in fury and gave chase after him.

"We mustn't lose sight of them!" Tatum stated, following their trail. The others followed close behind. DZS spotted a mother running away with her child and smirked, flexing his claws.

Kalya saw this and panic filled her eyes. "NO!"

"Aw, man… this whole thing is just a mess," Sky remarked darkly. Ash saw the situation and rushed forward to assist.

He stopped near Kayla and snarled. "You heartless bastard!"

DZS leapt forward and stabbed through the mother as well as the child. He pulled back, letting their bodies fall lifeless to the ground. He reared his head back and laughed maniacally.

Kayla looked horrified at this. "You…"

DZS turned with a smirk, holding the mother's heart in his hand and crushing it. Kayla's claws dug into the ground as she glared at him furiously, her eyes glowing bright blue. "YOU BASTARD!"

"We need a better strategy than fighting him head on," Tatum stated, pondering for a moment, "I wonder…"

She tried to contact Luna for help. _Luna? Can you still hear me?_

"I'm gonna kill you, YOU MONSTER!" Kayla roared, charging at DZS.

"You're just begging to die too," DZS said, smirking and leapt at her as well. Ash moved in with her to help while Tatum tried contacting Luna again.

_Luna? Are you there? Please answer me! _Yet, there was no response from Luna.

"Dammit!" Tatum swore, turning her staff into a sword, "She must've been taken as well…"

With that, she too charged in to help, her sword glowing with light. Ash breathed fire onto DZS who smirked even though he was being burned. He whipped his tail around and sliced at Ash.

"I can't just sit here and watch!" Sydney cried, charging in as well, but Firenha held her back.

"Sydney! Wait! You're nowhere near fast enough to keep up with him!" She reminded. Ash yelped in pain as his leg was cut open and fell to the ground as he breathed a jet of fire from where he was.

Kayla stopped by Ash. "You okay?"

"Argh! I'm fine!" He groaned, his leg hurting as he tried to get up. DZS charged at them with his claws bared. Kayla leapt and tackled him to the ground, impaling her claws in his chest. DZS growled and stabbed her side with his tail, knocking her to the ground at his side. Kayla cried out in pain as blood flowed out of her side.

She bit him in the shoulder and threw him into a destroyed hut. DZS got up and snarled, leaping at her and biting into one of her wings. They both tumbled to the ground, landing punches and slashing at each other. Tatum went over to Ash and healed his leg. "We need to end this and quickly before he gets away again…"

Ash grunted as he got up. "Or before we get more company…" He glanced behind at the cliff he saw the Marines at before turning back around. Tatum looked where Ash had glanced and nodded in acknowledgement.

DZS grabbed Kayla by the neck and slammed her into the ground as he raised his claws. "This time I'll make your death quick!"

"Go to Hell!" Kayla retorted, kneeing him in the crotch. DZS cringed in pain, his grip loosening. Kayla raised her hind legs and kicked him off of her. DZS hissed in pain as Kayla smirked triumphantly.

Ash ran up next to her. "You alright?"

She nodded, but winced as more blood flowed out of her side. Ash rushed to grab the wound, trying to stop the bleeding as much as he could. Kayla's vision blurred and she struggled to hold herself up.

"Tatum! She needs help! Quick!" Ash called. Tatum rushed over and knelt down to heal Kayla's wound. Kayla sighed, still a bit dizzy from blood loss.

"Oh, no you don't!" DZS shouted, tackling her. They both crashed into a hut.

"Kayla!" Ash cried, flapping his wings and flying at them, landing on top of DZS and throwing him away. DZS snarled and took a hold of Ash's arm, throwing him into Sky who got knocked over by Ash. DZS smirked as Tatum sent a blast of light at him. Ash grunted and added fire to the blast. DZS countered with darkness and lunged at Tatum.

Kayla bit into his tail and pulled him back. DZS snarled as she leapt onto his back, bringing her arm around his neck and strangling him from behind. DZS hissed and gagged as he twisted his body to get her off. Tatum formed a light shard and accurately threw it at his abdomen, forming another as the last one sunk beneath his skin. DZS roared, feeling the shard pierce into him and purifying him from the inside.

Ash came around to blast him with fire as he swooped back in from above. Kayla jumped off as DZS was charred by the fire succumbing him. Tatum accurately threw the next shard, sinking it into his shoulder while forming a third one. DZS roared in pain as his body was being burned all over from the light effects and Ash's flames. He started laughing as Ash landed near Tatum. "What's he laughing at now?"

"Us," Tatum replied as she accurately threw the last shard through his chest, raising her hand it sunk beneath his skin. DZS froze in his spot and his body shook with laughter, a crazed look on his face.

Kayla stood by Ash and Tatum. "What the hell?"

"I… don't know," Ash replied, a confused look on his face.

"I don't like where this is going," Sky commented. Tatum concentrated on the first shard in DZS's abdomen and made it explode. DZS roared out in agony as a hole revealed itself in his abdomen.

"Did we win?" Ash asked.

Tatum turned her sword into a silvery white whip. "I wouldn't count on it…"

Ash snarled and bared his teeth. DZS roared and pulled out the shards from where they were lodged, shattering each by succumbing them to dark energy. His eyes glow a bright red as darkness started to static around his body from his increasing anger.

"That can't be good…" Kayla stated.

"How're we supposed to beat this guy?!" Ash asked, frustrated.

"With a fierce determination and willpower…" Tatum muttered. Suddenly, a pillar of stone shot up out of the ground and rammed into DZS's jaw. DZS's head reared back and he grabbed his jaw, rubbing it.

"Oh, wanna play dirty, huh?" He asked as he pounded his fist into the ground and cracked it open, blue flames bursting up from the opening. Kayla shouted as she leapt away from the flames while Ash swore, leaping away and flapping his wings to gain altitude. Tatum jumped out of the way, but Firenha was hit full force, though the flames didn't appear to harm her.

"Whoa… that feels good," She smirked.

"Firenha, now isn't the time!" Sydney shouted, rolling her eyes. Firenha simply held a smug expression.

"Seriously, do you have any idea where those flames come from?!" Kayla asked, repulsed.

"Fire is fire to me…" Firenha replied, shrugging. The others sweat-dropped as DZS smirked, causing black chains to shoot out of the cracks in the ground and wrap around everyone. The chains drove into their backs and paralyzed them. They all fell to the ground, Ash landing especially hard and swearing. DZS chuckled evilly and started to slither toward them, stopping in front of Kayla.

"You seem to be in some sort of predicament," He mocked, laughing and using his tail to strike her stomach. She cried out and Ash called out to her.

"Aw, man… this really sucks…" Sky stated as Tatum mentally prepared a spell.

"Shut up, Sky!" Sydney admonished. DZS raised Kayla up in the air and punched her hard enough to tumble back into the ground. Kayla cried out in pain again, tears streaking down her cheeks. DZS's eyes held malice as he grabbed a hold of her once again and raised her off the ground. The others called out to her as they watched in horror, unable to do anything to help her as she choked in his grip.

"Time to end this... and your little friends…" DZS hissed.

"Don't you dare touch them!" Kayla growled, her eyes glowing bright blue.

"What are you going to do about it?" DZS asked, pulling her close to his face so she was looking into his cold and blood-thirsty eyes. Kayla snarled and her eyes glowed brighter.

"Hehe, don't worry, you'll be dead before you watch me tear them limb… from limb," DZS taunted. Kayla growled at this and her body started to glow white. DZS looked at her, a bit confused as Tatum smirked.

"I knew it…" She muttered.

"K-Kayla?" Sydney stammered, shocked.

"Whoa… check that out!" Sky said. The others just held shocked expressions as DZS felt his hands starting to burn, grunting in pain. Kayla smirked as a burst of light shot out of her and blasted DZS back. He cried out in pain, skidding on the ground with his chest smoking. The chains around Kayla dissipated as her body still glowed.

Tatum watched her transformation with a calculated expression. Kayla stood firm on the ground as her scales turned pure white and her stripes turned yellow. Gold braces appeared on her wrists and her horns darkened in color. Her wings morphed and turned into feathery, white angel wings, flapping elegantly. A halo formed over her head and shined brightly.

"Wow…" Ash marveled. The others were completely stunned, but Tatum just smirked.

"Someone's gonna get his ass kicked," Kayla stated with a smirk.

"We'll just see about that," DZS retorted, smirking as he got up.

"Wow… what just happened?!" Ash asked, looking to Tatum.

"It seems she's had dormant light energy stored within her; enough to power a transformation into an entity of light…" She explained.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Sky stated, excitedly as if he were watching a televised match.

"Sky, this isn't some paid event we're watching! Thos are our friends over there!" Sydney scolded.

"I know that, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy being rescued," Sky commented, causing the others to sweat-drop.

"Light…?" Ash questioned as he turned to look at Kayla again, his mind racing with thoughts.

"I'm gonna enjoy this," Kayla stated, her eyes glowing blue as she looked over her new form. DZS snarled and fired a blast of darkness at her. She panicked and brought her arms forward to shield herself, only to have a barrier of light surround her, dispelling the blast on contact.

"Awesome!" She remarked after blinking and looking up. The others marveled at her newfound power before DZS instantly appeared in front of her and smashed through the barrier by adding dark energy into the punch. Kayla jerked back and blasted him with a beam of light from her mouth. He roared in pain as he was smashed back into the ground, forming a crater.

"Damn! That sure packs a punch!" Sky stated as Ash watched in amazement. Kayla blasted DZS again, adding more energy into the beam. DZS roared in agony, unable to escape the blast as it pinned him to the ground. Everyone continued to watch as the light consumed him whole and the area became filled with light, dissolving the black chains. Ash got up slowly, rubbing his neck where the chains cut into him.

Tatum got up and walked over to Kayla, transforming her whip back into a staff. Sky got up as well, grinning, "That was awesome!"

Sydney got up and ran to Kayla as Firenha got up and hovered next to Ash. Cainnan did the same, walking over to stand next to Tatum. Kayla slowly walked up to DZS, who was lying motionless on the ground.

"Zombie Snake?" She called as she drew closer, "ZB?"

DZS remained motionless still.

"Are you alright-" She was cut off by his tail suddenly jolting up and stabbing her in the chest. She screamed in pain and Tatum tried to blast DZS with a large portion of light.

"Damn! What's it gonna take to bring this guy back already?!" Sky complained as DZS used Kayla as a shield to force her to take the blast. She cried out in pain as she placed her paws on his chest, beginning to purify him. DZS roared in pain as he sent large amounts of dark energy into her with his tail-blade still in her chest. Tatum sent Kayla more light energy to offset the darkness. The opposing powers overwhelmed Kayla and DZS, engulfing them both in an explosion of light and dark energy.

When the light of the explosion dimmed, both Kayla and Zombie Snake had reverted back to normal, lying on the ground motionless. Ash called out to Kayla as he ran up to her, the others following close behind. Kayla looked deathly pale from taking too much dark energy, the effect of it weakening her. Zombie Snake was burned severely, his body covered with the blood of his victims from his demon form. Ash shook Kayla, trying to wake her up, "Kayla! Kayla? Are you alright?!"

"Ugh… I feel like crap," She replied, opening her eyes.

"Nice work," Ash complimented, quickly turning a smile into a smirk as he backed up a bit.

"Thanks," Kayla smiled and blushed, then looked back at Zombie Snake's still form.

"Is he going to be alright?" Ash asked while looking at Zombie Snake.

"I hope so, I'd hate to go through all that and have him wind up dead," Sky replied. Firenha nudged him in admonishment.

"What?" He asked and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh my god… I hope I didn't…" Kayla lamented, looking at Zombie Snake with guilt. He was breathing, but still unconscious.

"He's alright. He's breathing, but he's unconscious… give him some rest and he'll be okay," Tatum stated after inspecting him.

"What if he comes to and starts trying to kill us again?" Sky asked.

"The stress from the battle broke the barriers on his mind… he should have full control of his body when he comes to," Tatum explained.

"I hope so…" Kayla said, looking at the destroyed village. Dead bodies of the villagers laid lifeless and the ground was coated crimson with their blood.

"We'd better go…" Ash suggested, glancing around the village to spot a Human Nighthawk Drop Ship taking off in the distance and off to the Frigate, which was hovering off in the distance.

"I agree," Tatum said as Cainnan placed his hand on the ground to morph into a golem and gently pick up Zombie Snake, carrying him. Kayla looked at Zombie Snake sadly, knowing he'd be devastated for killing all these innocent lives even though he wouldn't show it.

"We need to keep moving, we don't have much time and we have a long way to go before we reach Terehawken's Citadel…" Tatum reminded them as she lead them back on the trail to Terehawken's Citadel. Sky nodded and flew up above the trees to follow with the others close behind, Cainnan carrying Zombie Snake. In the distance, the Frigate's engines fired and it slowly followed them, barely noticeable from its position.


	6. Message to Readers

**I doubt if I'm going to continue this story and will probably end up deleting it. I've gotten out of touch with the other authors of this story and plus it's been so long since the last update that I doubt that any of us remember where we were even going with the story. If the other authors happen to protest against this decision, I'll guess we'll think of something or revamp this. If not, this'll be deleted. Have a nice day (or night)!**


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